


puppy love

by hi_raeth



Series: retweet (twitter fics) [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Pregnancy, The Best Boy, originally posted on twitter, ren the puppy is a good boy YES HE IS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26047684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hi_raeth/pseuds/hi_raeth
Summary: Ren the golden retriever plays an integral (and adorable!) role in his humans' love story throughout the years, from the day Ben first asks his college classmate Rey out to the day Rey lets her husband Ben know they're expanding the family.Based on this cute prompt from @reylomyhalo:They allow students to bring their pets to classes and when Ben Solo’s puppy comes with him to class one day it waddles over to where Rey sits just a few seats over to the left looking down she picks the puppy up and sees there’s a note attached to the collar which says “dinner?”
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: retweet (twitter fics) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1639294
Comments: 50
Kudos: 311





	puppy love

The sound of excited chatter reaches Rey's ears before the sight of its source enters her view.

It's 8:55AM on a Wednesday, five minutes before Prof. Holdo's Sustainable Urban Planning lecture begins, and a crowd of students are buzzing by the entrance. A cacophony of squeals here, a drawn-out _awwww_ there, and then suddenly the group of students part to reveal Ben Solo... with a puppy cradled in those thick, muscled arms she's spent maybe a little too much time daydreaming about.

It's not the first time someone has brought a pet in, since Prof. Holdo has made it clear that she's perfectly all right with her students bringing in their children and pets if they have to, but the little golden retriever is the cutest ‘guest student’ Rey's seen all semester.

Suddenly, the fuss makes perfect sense.

In the midst of all this chaos, Ben somehow manages to find her anyway. He shrugs and gives her a helpless little smile with the barest hint of a wince, as if to say _what can I do?_ , and Rey can't help the way she beams at him in return.

They're not friends, not quite, what with her friends forming a protective barrier around her and him sitting alone on the opposite end of the hall, but there's usually a murmured _good morning_ when he walks past her to get to his seat and a knowing smile when he catches her spacing out. Today, though... today something compels her to stand up and call out to him, raising her voice to be heard above the din.

"What's his name?" she asks, cupping her hands around her mouth for exaggerated effect.

Ben blinks, looking taken aback - stunned, even - for the briefest of moments before he calls back, "Ben!"

Her laugh is loud enough to draw everyone's attention away from the puppy, and her cheeks are flushed when she shakes her head at Ben with a fond smile. "Of course I know your name, Ben. I was asking about the puppy!"

Now his brows knit into a look of true confusion, until suddenly it all disappears with the abruptness of a light bulb going off in his mind. "No, I said—" Ben walks closer as he speaks, long legs making short work of the distance between them and leaving her utterly unprepared for the experience of having him standing right in front of her.

How is he somehow even bigger and taller than she'd assumed from a distance?

She's left with little to no time to process this revelation, not when the puppy suddenly starts squirming in Ben's arms only to lean forward and give her an inquisitive little sniff that's quickly followed by an absolutely adorable yelp. Ben looks about as pleased with this development as she feels, and his eyes seem to almost dance with joy as Rey offers a hand to the curious pup.

"I said, his name is Ren."

She laughs again, though it quickly fades when she realizes that despite the amused look on Ben's face, he's not joining in. "Wait, seriously?"

At least he's aware of how ridiculous the whole thing is, judging by his sheepish little puff of laughter. "Yeah, seriously. It's a little too… matchy for my tastes, but that's the name he's been responding to since he was born and I figured it wouldn't be fair to change it so..." Ben ends with a little shrug just as Prof. Holdo walks in, putting an end to the longest conversation they've had to date.

Rey's heart melts as Ren nuzzles his wet little nose into her palm. "Well, I think you two make a very cute matching set," she coos at the puppy, giving him a little scratch under his chin before pulling her hand away.

Ben's still smiling at her when she looks back at him, though it's... softer, somehow, than any other look she's ever seen on him.

Mercifully, Holdo calls Ben's name before Rey can do something revealing like turn red from head to toe. She's left with little more than a quiet, "See you around, Rey," before Ben turns to Holdo with an explanation she catches snippets of here and there — something about Ren not wanting to be left alone this morning, and a promise that he'll behave.

For the most part, Ren really is extraordinarily well-behaved for a puppy. He doesn't make a single peep except for a little whine that escapes his throat when he lets out a yawn, and he's content to sit at Ben's feet so long as he gets the occasional ear scratch. Occasionally he'll get up when Ben is busy taking notes and amble around a bit, walking the length of the hall to come bump Rey's knee for pets, but in general the puppy is more of a distraction than disruption to the class, and even Holdo can't help but smile at him.

The fourth time Ren wanders over to her though, her hand catches on something as she reaches down to scratch at his chin.

Tucked into the loop between his collar and tag is a rolled-up note, and Rey chances a look across the hall only to find Ben already looking at her. She holds up the note in a silent question, and puzzles at the way he seems to hesitate before giving her a nod.

After a quick glance to make sure Holdo hasn't caught on to the fact that Ben is literally passing notes in a sophomore college class, Rey unfurls the note to find—

_Have dinner with me?_

Just a single sentence written in flowing script she would never have expected from Ben, yet somehow isn't surprised by. Or maybe it's just that all her surprise is focused on the content of the message, not the delivery. Because... there's no mistaking this, is there? Not after the way he smiled at her earlier, not with the way he seemed to war with himself before nodding, not at the sight that greets her when she risks another look at him, big hands nervously fiddling with a tiny pen as he stares straight ahead, determined to avoid her gaze.

Rey smiles, scribbles her answer, and tucks the little note back into the loop, giving Ren a good, thorough ear scratch as compensation for his service. She holds her breath as the pup scampers back to his human, moving a little faster than before, almost as if he's in the know.

Her heart is pounding so hard it _hurts_ as he reaches for the note. Blood rushes in her ears with a thunderous roar as he unfolds it. And then—

And then Ben gives her a smile brighter than the sun as he carefully, reverently tucks her reply into a pocket in his notebook.

_I thought you’d never ask._

They go on their first date right after that morning's lecture, stopping at a food cart before they take Ren on a nice, long walk around campus.

It quickly becomes one of their favorite things to do together, Rey and Ben walking hand-in-hand while Ren trots ahead of them.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Rey jokingly calls out as she steps into Ben's apartment. Hands full of a veritable feast of takeaway, she lightly kicks the door shut behind her before venturing into the kitchen.

Ben is nowhere to be seen, but he wouldn't have left the door unlocked for her if he's not home. Figuring that he's probably in the bathroom, Rey decides to go ahead and start pulling out plates and cups for dinner. Fourteen months into their relationship and she's intimately familiar with the layout of his apartment, moving on muscle memory alone as she opens up the right cupboards and drawers. It's funny, how comfortable she is in his space after a lifetime of never quite feeling at home anywhere else.

She feels... safe here, in a way she's never ever experienced anywhere else.

A big part of it is how Ben and Ren have gone out of their way to make her feel welcome here, and Rey smiles to herself at the memory of many rainy afternoons spent curled up on the couch between her two favorite boys, knowing they're always happy to have her around. Speaking of whom—

"Ben?" she calls out once more, only to be greeted by the sound of Ren knocking the bedroom door wide open and running over to her at full speed. He's big enough now to nearly knock her over when they collide, and Rey concentrates all her energy and attention on holding steady as she crouches down to welcome the golden retriever with open arms. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Ben running out of his room just as Rey bends down to greet Ren, who seems to be holding a piece of metal between his teeth.

"Wait, no! Give that back!"

Rey laughs as she reaches out to pry the mystery object from Ren's mouth, and the dog seems all too happy to hand it over the second her other hand starts scratching behind one ear. "Ren, we've talked about stealing—" she begins to lightly chide the beaming pup, but the rest of the sentence promptly disappears from her mind as soon as she realizes just what it is he's just dropped into her hand.

A key.

"Oh," Rey breathes, falling back onto her haunches as she lifts her eyes up to finally take in the sight of Ben, all wide eyes and flushed ears and heaving chest.

"I, um—" Ben clears his throat as one hand moves up to rub at the back of his neck, a dead giveaway of his nerves. "I thought I'd have a bit more time to figure this out, but apparently _someone_ got sick of watching me pace up and down," he says with a faint little laugh.

Her heart skips a beat before suddenly leaping up to her throat, and Rey thinks she's never been so nervous and excited at the same time before. Wiping the slightly drool-coated key against her jeans, she rises up on shaky legs as Ben begins to walk closer.

"Rey, I... I don't know if this is too soon, or maybe even way overdue, I don't know how any of this relationship stuff works because I never cared about any of it before you."

He'd told her so on their second date, when they finally had that dinner she'd promised him. After, while he was walking her home, Ben had confessed – well, more like mumbled – that he'd never really done this relationship thing before, never had any interest in it. And then, before her heart could sink, before she could brace herself for this thing between them ending before it'd even begun, he'd taken her hand and looked her in the eye, the tiniest hint of a nervous smile tugging at his lips, and said that for her, _with_ her, he would like to give it a try.

She'd kissed him then, right on the street for the whole world to see as a light drizzle began and the streetlights came on, bathing them in a warm glow.

Rey would like nothing more than to kiss him now, but Ben speaks again before she gets the chance to.

"I don't know much, but I do know that this place wasn't home for us until you walked into it, and even now it doesn't feel like home when you're not around."

_Home._

This place feels like home, the thing she's been looking for all her life. And now Ben is offering to actually make it her home, this little apartment with all the memories and love and laughter they've shared over the past year.

She's nodding before he can even ask the question, one big, warm hand reaching out for hers. The key is clutched so tightly within her grip that it's digging into her palm, and Ben makes no move to take it away from her. He raises their joined hands to his lips instead, pressing a kiss to her wrist.

"Move in with me?"

An expertly timed bark from Ren drowns out her shaky voice, but they both know there's only one answer. The key clatters to the ground as Ben sweeps her up into his arms and kisses her until they part for breath, only to find Ren patiently waiting with the key in his mouth again, holding it up to her like an offering.

And sure, every article Rey has ever read on the matter insists that dogs can't actually smile, but in that moment she swears Ren is giving her the brightest, sunniest, happiest smile in all of history as she accepts his gift and everything that comes with it.

* * *

Their fourth anniversary comes and goes without much fanfare, marked as is tradition by a night out at their favorite special occasions restaurant and a moonlit stroll along the pier while Leia gladly takes care of her granddog for the night.

The next day Ben bestows upon her one last anniversary gift, allowing her to sleep in while he goes to pick up Ren from his mom. "I'll be back with lunch," he promises with a quick kiss to her forehead, and Rey forces her eyes open to give him a sleepy smile.

"You're the best," she slurs, reaching one sleep-heavy hand out to brush her fingers along his in a silent goodbye. "Love you."

Ben's reply sounds miles away as sleep drags her down once more, but after all this time her heart still fills with warmth when he says it back.

Rey slips in and out of sleep as the sun continues its steady upward climb, shaking off the last vestiges of a half-formed dream only when she hears the telltale sound of paws thudding against the hardwood floor of their building's hallway.

A muffled bark is followed by quiet laughter and the distant rumble of Ben's voice, and the front door opens just as she finally drags herself out of bed and over to the bedroom door Ben had left ajar. Another bark - closer, this time - chases away the last bits of sleep and grogginess, and Rey beams as she's greeted by the sight of Ren bounding into the apartment with a wagging tail and a blinding smile.

"I missed you too, boy," she laughs, padding over to her boys while Ben closes the door and fiddles with Ren's leash. She stops just a few feet away, a stray thought niggling at her mind until it clicks– "What happened to lunch?" Rey asks with just a hint of disappointment.

Ben looks up at her, still on one knee as he adjusts Ren's collar. He lets out a little puff of laughter, but she knows it comes from a place of affection; after everything they've shared, he's the last person in the world who would make fun of her relationship with food.

Which is why it sparks her curiosity when he boldly declares, "We've got something better than food for you."

She lets out a little laugh of her own, crossing her arms in a show of skepticism. "I don't know if such a thing exists, babe."

He ignores her in favor of finally releasing Ren from his leash. "Go on, boy," Ben says encouragingly, giving Ren a pet on the head. "Show her what you've got."

Rey immediately zeroes in on Ren's neck. It's a thing for them now, after the way Ben first asked her out all those years ago, and she doesn't know why she hadn't gotten suspicious the second Ben started fiddling with the collar. A silk ribbon wraps around the metal loop, and as Ren happily rushes over to her Rey thinks she catches a glint of—

She drops down to her knees just in time for Ren to barrel into her, and while accepting his doggy kisses she manages to reach out and carefully tug at the ribbon. It comes undone with the slightest effort, delivering a ring she's only seen in old pictures right into her hand.

With his grandmother's sapphire engagement ring in her palm, Rey looks up to find Ben still waiting on one knee, his smile unmistakable even through her tears. "Ben," she whispers as their eyes find each other, so faintly she can barely hear herself over the sound of Ren sniffing at her.

Moving automatically, drawn to him as always, Rey finds herself shuffling across the floor on her knees. It's far from graceful, and a little uncomfortable with only her thin pajama pants protecting her knees, and she could laugh her head off when Ren drops down to his belly to shuffle along with her.

But the alternative - looking away, standing up, snapping out of this moment - is unthinkable.

Ben meets her halfway - as he always has, as he always will - and gently plucks the ring from her palm before lacing their fingers together. "Rey," he murmurs, leaning down to press his forehead against hers. Her eyes flutter shut on instinct, even as every brain cell she has screams at her to take it all in, to remember every single detail about this moment. But in this moment, she doesn't need to see— not when there's so much to feel.

The shaky beginnings of a smile on his lips, just barely touching hers. The warmth of Ren pressed into her side, just as much a part of this moment as the both of them. The joy and love and peace she feels in every cell of her being, knowing that every single moment of her life and his has all been leading to this.

Ben doesn't have a grand speech prepared, just as he doesn't have a grand proposal planned— because that's not what she wants, and he knows, he listens, he understands her.

When he breathes the words against her lips, it feels like they're the only two people in the world. Like this is only for them, the way they've always agreed they want it to be.

"Marry me?"

She closes the distance between them with a sound that's half-laugh and half-sob, tells him _yes yes **Ben** of course yes_ between kisses, and stops only to watch him slide the ring onto her finger, where it belongs.

Rey has all of five seconds to admire the view before Ben pulls her and Ren into a hug, and their joyous laughter fills the apartment as Ren happily congratulates them with sloppy kisses.

Eventually - maybe five minutes later, or maybe twenty; it's hard to keep track of time when you're so happy you feel like you're floating - she remembers to ask, "But you did get food too, right?"

Ben laughs so hard his shoulders shake, a moment of pure, unrestrained joy she will cherish forever. "Of course I did," he finally says, one last chuckle escaping him as he shakes his head at her with a smile so full of affection her heart skips a beat. "Come on, sweetheart, there's lasagna in the car."

Allowing him to help her back up to her feet, Rey immediately tucks herself into his side and presses a kiss to his cheek. "See, this is why you're the love of my life."

Ben turns to her, the curve of his lips turning into something softer, something absolutely breathtaking in its utter sincerity. "And you're mine."

They can barely stop smiling long enough to properly kiss again, and when they do Ren insists on making his presence known by head-butting the back of Ben's knees, but Rey has zero complaints even as the two of them fall to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs.

After all, special moments like these are few and far in between.

 _But_ , she thinks to herself with a smile as Ben reaches for her left hand to admire the ring on her finger and all that it signifies, at least from now on they'll get to share all of theirs with each other.

* * *

"Sweetheart, you home?" Ben calls out as he sets his messenger bag down and drops the four envelopes he'd found in the mailbox into their designated mail tray.

Rey doesn't often beat him home, since her commute is longer, but today he can hear the TV playing in their living room and the telltale sound of his wife sliding around in her socks upstairs... punctuated by the faint _thud_ of her running into what is most likely a wall.

Ben shakes his head with a quiet chuckle as he puts away his shoes before calling up the stairs for Rey once again. "Everything okay?"

"Yes!" she squeaks in a decidedly suspicious manner. "Yup, everything's totally fine, we're good up here!"

"Good to hear that you're good," Ben teases, climbing up the first few steps. "Are you two planning to come down anytime soon or should I head up?"

Something falls to the ground, startling both Rey and Ren judging by the sound of her gasp and his bark. "Just a sec!" Rey tells him before Ben can ask if everything's all right, and if he really strains his ears he can just about make out the sound of her quietly talking to Ren.

"Okay, just like we practiced. That's a good boy!"

Soon he's greeted by the sound of Ren's paws thumping against the hardwood floors, and not long after the golden retriever appears at the top of the steps with a little woven basket in his mouth. Ben smiles as he crouches down and holds his arms open. "Hey, boy. Is that for me?"

The basket had originally been part of Rose's housewarming gift, filled with little seedlings for the garden Rey couldn't wait to get to work on. But to everyone's surprise Ren ended up claiming the basket as soon as the seedlings found a new home, and as soon as he realized he could now carry all of his favorite toys at once, the two became inseparable.

The look of pride on his face whenever he presents Ben with the basket and its assorted offerings is one of the cutest things in the world, and it never fails to make Ben smile even though he knows he's probably about to get a lapful of soggy toys.

Ren does something a little out of the ordinary today though, hesitating and turning back to Rey in search of some kind of signal before he charges down the stairs, but charge he does as soon as Rey gives him an encouraging nod. The basket bounces with him, but it's just deep enough for the contents to remain in place until they reach Ben.

"Good boy," he coos as Ren nudges the basket toward him and promptly rolls over for a thank-you belly rub that Ben dutifully provides before reaching for the basket.

It takes him a good minute to make sense of what he's seeing, long enough for Ren to grow bored and wander off in search of the sounds coming from the TV.

The basket has been lined with soft tissue paper, the kind usually found in gift bags, and nestled within delicate layers of yellow and cream are the tiniest shoes he's ever seen, Rey's go-to Converse in miniature. Ben sets the basket down with shaking hands and looks up to find his wife still upstairs, sitting on the top step with her chin planted in her hands as she gives him a shy smile.

Words fail him.

"These are..." he begins to say, gesturing at the shoes - _baby_ shoes - to make up for his speechlessness. Rey nods.

"You're—" Another nod, and this time her smile grows wider.

"We're—" She races down the steps just as Ben lurches up to his feet to reach for her.

"We're having a baby!" she confirms, ending on a breathless giggle as Ben lifts her off her feet.

"Oh my god, we're having a baby," Ben echoes, laughing along with Rey even as tears fill his eyes. Happy tears of course, the happiest, and he's quick to tell her so before this moment can be ruined.

"So you don't think it's too soon?" Rey asks as she wraps her arms around his neck, one hand sliding into his hair out of habit.

Ben is careful to hold her steady as one hand comes to rest on her stomach. "It's _perfect_ , sweetheart. Everything is perfect," he assures her with a kiss before slowly setting her back down, mindful of the fact that he's carrying his pregnant wife on the stairs.

Rey accidentally knocks over the basket as she gets back on her feet, and the crinkling of tissue paper sends Ren running back over to them just in time to join the celebration. They bend down to sit on the stairs, and Rey shows her little messenger some love while Ben picks up the shoes with the intention of placing them in Rey's lap only to find himself marveling at how tiny they are in his palm.

A wet nose bumps his arm almost inquisitively, and Ben looks up to find both Rey and Ren looking at him. Ren nuzzles into his side while Rey's hand comes to rest next to his, the two of them cradling the little pair of shoes together.

"You're right," Rey sighs, resting her head on his shoulder as Ben's free hand gently wraps around her middle to pull her closer while Ren rests his head on Ben's thigh, their little family all curled up together in one spot. His wife looks up at him with a smile brighter than sunrise, a smile he's powerless to resist as he leans in to kiss her.

"Everything _is_ perfect," she echoes between kisses, and so it is.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, what was supposed to be a **short** and sweet Twitter fic turned into a full one-shot. No regrets though, because this is so on-brand for my 70th AO3 fic!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this fluffy ride! Please don't hesitate to leave a comment below or [come say hi on Twitter](https://twitter.com/hiraeth_writes).


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